On The Briefing with Jen Psaki on MS NOW, May 7, 2026, former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder argued that “healing our democracy” would require federal legislation banning partisan and racial gerrymandering.
Holder said:
“The fact that what they did. I’ll write an op-ed. And, uh uh, my determination, I think the determination of many of us was that, no, we’re gonna fight back. You know, we have to deal with this crisis that they have presented us with and make sure that we win in this crisis so that ultimately we can heal our democracy.
And healing the democracy, I think ultimately is gonna call, is gonna mean, that we’re gonna have to pass federal legislation to ban partisan and racial gerrymandering. But to get to that point, we have to make sure that we save our democracy so that we have the capacity to do that.
People need to understand. Look at history. Authoritarianism rose in Europe in the early part of the 20th century not because authoritarianism was strong, but because the defense of democracy was weak. And we cannot repeat that mistake. The risks are entirely too high.”
This is pure Democratic projection. Holder chairs the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, an openly partisan organization built to help Democrats win redistricting battles.
Holder isn’t calling for a colorblind, neutral system. He’s calling for Washington to take over redistricting so that federal rules can block Republican maps in red states while protecting or expanding the race-based advantages Democrats already enjoy in blue states.
That’s why it sounds completely contradictory: Holder helped create and weaponize racial gerrymandering when it benefited Democrats. Now he wants to “ban” it when Republicans start using conventional map-drawing to fight back.
That hypocrisy is hard to miss. Democrats still pursue aggressive partisan and racial gerrymanders in states they control, including Illinois, Maryland, and California. Yet when Republicans draw favorable maps in Texas, North Carolina, or Florida, Holder declares it a democratic crisis and demands federal legislation to ban what Democrats have long practiced.
If Democrats truly wanted to end racial gerrymandering, they could start in the states they control. Instead, their goal appears to be a federal standard that restrains Republican mapmakers while leaving Democratic advantages intact.
Holder is not healing democracy. He is trying to seize power and rewrite the rules now that the game no longer favors his side.
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